Halo 3: Last Defense
by randomstorymaker
Summary: As both the Covenant and humans try to find the other Halos activator, the Ark, Master Chief must protect the planet Earth and the Ark from the Covenant. If the Covenant finds the Ark, it is all over. My first fanfic (as most of you can tell), please R&R.
1. Introduction

"Master Chief, we should be arriving on Earth in approximately one hour," Cortana alerted Spartan-117.

"Okay, got it." The green alien killer replied. John was looking at one his Magnums he picked up at Delta Halo. The gun had been slightly damaged, probably from a grunt's plasma pistol. The barrel of the gun had a burn mark on it that made it distinguishable from other handguns.

"Chief, you don't even realize how lucky you are, do you? Last time I checked most people can't take over a Forerunner ship and a Covenant flagship...completely. If that Elite didn't run out of plasma your ass would be grass." Cortana complimented and joked around. The Chief let out a short laugh before replying, "Oh yeah, I'm sure you consider being held hostage by a huge monster underwater very lucky. Can't forget the fact that the only gun I have is this Magnum with 5 bullets...that'll do plenty good in case I run into another Covenant ship. I guess I'll have to make use of these plasma weapons all over the place. I always did sort of like those needlers." Spartan-117 took off his helmet. Sweat was dripping down his face. John scratched his almost hairless head as he got up and went to a dead elite. He got on one knee as he examined a pair of needlers with about half full needlers in each.

"See, it is your lucky day." Cortana commented. The Chief put his helmet back on and took a seat and started to rest. "You do know that the Covenant is going to be searching for the Ark on Earth just like us. We're not gonna have a pleasant visit."

"Unfortunately...I know." John replied. The communicator started making noise before Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood's voice could be heard, "Master Chief...how long before you can greet me with your story of survival of how you managed to escape that Forerunner ship full of Covenant and one Prophet of Truth?" he said sarcastically.

"About thirty minutes, sir." He replied. Surviving that ship was an incredibly feat; it was all thanks to Cortana though. He was surprised when he found out Cortana snuck onto the triangular Forerunner ship. After he killed the Prophet of Truth, he figured he would have some time to find out some information before he was killed by something. Finding Cortana was a very pleasant surprise that kept him alive. Jacking a Covenant flagship was also thanks to Cortana. Unfortunately he didn't find anything from the ship's data. But Sergeant AJ Johnson did fill him in on what he missed.

"Chief, prepare for landing on Cairo Station landing pad 081 in about 15 minutes." Cortana informed him. John could only imagine the state that Earth was in. "Here we are, Chief." The AI said to John. The Spartan exited the ship to find Hood waiting right outside for him under the grey sky.

"Welcome back, Chief. Now can you tell me what the hell you did?" The man asked. Master Chief replied with a smile under his green mask, "Of course I can. The Prophet of Truth was trying to activate the other Halos and-" John was interrupted by Hood, "Oh and what is this I hear of other Halos?"

"Well, exactly what is sounds like sir. There are about 5 other installations, on standby. A monitor installation told Johnson and Keyes that they can be activated from the Ark. When an Elite also trying to destroy the other Halos, the Arbiter, asked the Monitor where the Ark was the Monitor told them it was on Earth. The Monitor was about to tell them exactly where it was located but the Monitor was destroyed by a group of Brutes that found Johnson, Keyes and the Arbiter. The three of them managed to escape but the Monitor was shot down." Master Chief explained.

"Oh, I see. Well then, I guess we better start searching for that Ark now shouldn't we?" Hood replied. The Chief nodded. Hood added, "Well, get yourself armed, I doubt the Covenant doesn't know by now and I don't think you'll last very long with just a handgun and a needler."

Two marines equipped with Battle Rifles led John to an armory where he picked up a shotgun with 48 shells and a Sub-Machine Gun with 180 extra bullets. He left the handgun and needler near the other weapons. John told the marines, "I got it from here, thanks." The marines left the room and the Chief saw a familiar face.

"Lasern, is that you?" The chief asked.

"You bet." The man replied. The man was about 5'11, was a white man with no facial hair whatsoever.

"I haven't seen you since the Covenant attacked Cairo Station. How have you been?"

"Good, good. Anyway, Hood sent me in to tell you that you're assigned to the Alaskan base, with me and a few other guys. And don't worry, they're good guys, I've known them for a long time. A Pelican is gonna pick us up at 0700 hours sharp, so meet us at outside your door around six and we'll all go together. And don't be late. Let me show you to where you'll be staying for the night. We're supposed to be ready to leave in the morning, okay?" The man led the Chief to his quarters, which contained a small bathroom and a bed along with other items such as an alarm, ready to ring at the appropriate times, pillows, a TV, a radio and a disposable toothbrush along with a small container of toothpaste.

"Um...okay, sure. I'll see you tomorrow than." Chief said. John knew he wasn't going to get a long night of sleep."


	2. Ice of Hell

"Damn! That alarm is so loud!" John said as he looked at the alarm that read 5:45 in big green numbers.

"Well, I would hope so.", Cortana said as she appeared as a hologram over the radio, "because if you're not on that Pelican by seven, they're gonna leave, with or without you." The Master Chief got out of his small bed and went into the bathroom to wash up. Five minutes later he left the bathroom and went to go get his MJOLNIR armor in a small corner of the room. As he was putting on he saw his shotgun and sub-machine gun neatly stacked in another corner.

"Cortana, you think I can go exchange the sub-machine gun for something else I liked?" The Chief asked.

"I don't see why not." The AI responded. John heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door the familiar face along with 6 other men was at his door.

"Hey, John!" Lasern commented.

"Lasern, marines, ready?" John replied.

"You bet." Lasern said.

"Hold on, let me just get Cortana." The Chief said. He ran inside and inserted the AI into his suit. The group started walking down the hall.

"Do you mind if I run to the armory and exchange one my guns for something else?" John asked.

Lasern looked at his watch before saying, "Well, sure but just hurry up because it's not really a short walk to where the Pelican is going to pick us up." John started jogging towards the armory. When he arrived there, it was empty so he just put the sub-machine gun back and took out a .50 caliber Desert Eagle, along with 5 extra clips. The Chief started back to the other marines and Lasern.

When he got back they all started walking to the Cairo Station landing pad 124. On the way, they all exchanged stories of battle and survival. When they reached the landing pad, it was exactly 6:57. Lord Hood was standing next a Pelican.

Lord Hood greeted everyone by saying, "You're early, and that's good to see. Anyway, as you know, the eight of you will be sent to Alaska with two other groups from the Beijing and the French stations. The twenty seven of you will be split into smaller groups and be searching the area for any sign of the Ark. Any questions," There was a silence. "Good." The eight men got into the pelican as Hood wished them all good luck. As Master Chief got on the pelican, Hood stopped him and said, "Watch over them, okay?" John nodded and got onto the pelican. The dropship lifted the air and started towards Alaska.

John was looking at the weapons everyone else had. Most of the marines had a battle rifle and a sub-machine gun. Two marines had a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher. One marine had a shotgun and plenty of grenades.

As Master Chief was nearing the end of his story of the Delta Halo, the Forerunner ship and the Gravemind, the pelican started shaking. The Spartan stood up and asked, "What the hell is going on?" The pilot yelled back, "Covenant…….a lot of Covenant….all over Earth. We just got hit by a small plasma cannon, thank God. We're right near Alaska so we're going to have to make an emergency landing. Marines, get ready."

Master Chief looked out the back of the pelican and saw at least a hundred thousand Covenant ships landing in the distance, along with a few in Alaska. The pelican was descending to the ground as the marines were jumping.

"Take care of yourself." Master Chief said to the pilot before he jumped out last. Lasern yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear, "Marines...prepare to fight!" Seven dropships started releasing grunts, elites and three pairs of hunters.

The marines and the Chief were in a large field, marines on one side and Covenant on the other side, making their way towards the marines. The area was all open and there were no buildings nearby or anything to hide behind. The Spartan took out his Desert Eagle and aimed at a line of grunts. John pulled the trigger in succession five times, about a second apart each shot to aim a little more to the right. Five grunt bodies dropped to their knees, and eventually to the floor. The Master Chief heard a cracking noise. He looked at the floor and realized the ice field they were on was ready to crack at any second. The Chief yelled out to the marine with the rocket launcher, "Shoot a rocket at the ice in the middle of the field! Now!" The marine quickly released a rocket a few feet in front of the large group of Covenant walking towards them. Everyone heard a large cracking noise and saw ice fly up in the air. The field started falling apart. Most of the grunts and elites fell into the ice cold water. One of the hunters also managed to fall into the ice water. The remaining Covenant ran around the large gap in the field. The Master Chief and the marines started retreating back before they too fell into the water. The surviving Covenant followed them into a nearby field of snow.

After leaving the icy field area Master Chief then yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear "Get ready to fire!" The marines with the sniper rifles were already dropping Covenant bodies. Lasern spotted a Phantom and pointed it out as it dropped its ghosts. The three ghosts made its way towards the group of marines. Bursts of plasma came out of the purple hover machines. The group started running in different directions. One of the marines holding a sub-machine gun was mowed down and burned by shots of plasma.

One of the ghosts tried to run down the Spartan but John jumped out of the way, barely. As the ghost came back around the Spartan jumped on top of the ghosts and put the magnum to the elite's head and put three bullets in it. He kicked the dead body out of the ghost and took control of it himself. Meanwhile, the marine with the rocket launcher that had tried to take down the plasma cannons on the phantom had just shot down the last cannon, weakening the group of Covenant even more.


End file.
